


Down Into The Ground

by The_Forgotten_Nobody



Series: Whumptober 2020 - The Old Guard [4]
Category: The Old Guard (Movie 2020)
Genre: Angst, Buried Alive, Hurt/Comfort, M/M, Whumptober 2020
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-10-11
Updated: 2020-10-11
Packaged: 2021-03-08 04:14:46
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 790
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26949568
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/The_Forgotten_Nobody/pseuds/The_Forgotten_Nobody
Summary: “But what if he doesn’t know that? What if he thinks we have abandoned him, like-like…” Nicky tears his hands out of Nile’s and resumes digging. This is only the third hole Nicky has dug, but the previous 2 went down nearly 6 feet.
Relationships: Joe | Yusuf Al-Kaysani/Nicky | Nicolò di Genova
Series: Whumptober 2020 - The Old Guard [4]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1954123
Comments: 5
Kudos: 214





	Down Into The Ground

**Author's Note:**

> I told you we were going to get angsty!

Andy watches Nicky claw his fingers desperately in the dirt, ripping off nails and leaving his hands bloody, with a certain sort of detachment. 

She’d grown used to the hollowness in her chest that had been born the moment they took Quynh away, that had been carved deeper every minute they didn’t find her and was left as a gaping wound ever since they gave up the search. 

She hadn’t thought it could get worse. 

“Andy... Andy, we need to stop him. He’s hurting himself and Copley’s got the tech. They’re gonna find him.” Nile draws her back. 

She’s so young. She might have the dreams of Quynh, but she doesn’t understand. She doesn’t understand that this new technology, the heat sensors, the helicopters. To them, it’s all so new that when they are reminded of centuries past, sucked into the memories, it’s like they no longer exist again. They are their younger counterparts. Lost in a world where the only thing they can rely on is themselves. 

“He won’t stop,” Andy says blandly. She images what Joe must be going through, trapped in the coffin who knew how deep beneath the Earth. She imagines he might be doing the best out of all of them. Perhaps he’s not even scared. 

Nile gives up on her and moves on to Nicky. She lands hard against the Earth and tries to hold his hands in her own. 

“Nicky, stop. It’s going to be okay. All you’re doing is hurting yourself.” 

“You don’t understand,” Nicky growls, so low and dangerous that it almost sparks Andy into action. “He’s gone. Buried. I cannot leave him there.” 

Perhaps the worst of it all is, had Joe been mortal, he would almost certainly have died for good. 

“You’re not gonna. You hear that? That’s a helicopter. They’re gonna find Joe, and when they do, we’re gonna dig him up, you hear me?” 

“But what if he doesn’t know that? What if he thinks we have abandoned him, like-like…” Nicky tears his hands out of Nile’s and resumes digging. This is only the third hole Nicky has dug, but the previous 2 went down nearly 6 feet. 

Sometimes, Andy forgets who they’re looking for. Joe. Quynh. The pain of both combine into one, aching ball of despair that lodges itself in Andy’s chest. The skin around her own nails is bloody and torn, even though she hasn’t offered to help once. 

The reason? She’s not sure. Maybe there is still a part of her that knows Nile is right, and with her newfound mortality, she would leave herself a mess that would only make Joe feel worse when they rescued him. 

Because they would.

“He’s not going to think you’ve abandoned him,” Nile says, trying to get through to Nicky. She looks back at Andy desperately, uncomprehendingly. She’s never seen Nicky like this and she's scared. Andy would reassure her if she felt she could move. “They wanted us to...to find the dead body. They don’t know what we are. He’s gonna come back to us.” 

It’s as if Nicky can’t hear her anymore. He continues to dig until Nile’s phone rings. She picks up, listens, nods, then shuts her phone. 

“They’ve found him.”

* * *

That evening, they’re all sat in the safehouse, lit only by the small fireplace. Nile sits beside Andy, her head resting against Andy’s arm. Andy herself has a whisky in hand, and her gaze on the boys. Nicky is wrapped around Joe, asleep, but Joe is awake. He cards his fingers through Nicky’s hair, soothing him every time a nightmare threatens to disturb him. Joe himself, while still shaken, is doing better. Andy’s not stupid enough to think he’s fine, but it’s going to be Nicky, even herself, who suffers from the aftereffects of this the most. Even if it had only been a few hours, they both know what it’s like to lose someone, and never know if you’ll find them again. Nile, even though she tries, still can’t understand.

Although…

“We’ll find her,” Nile says quietly, so not to wake Nicky. “I know we will.” She drinks the last of her tea, gives Andy an affectionate squeeze on the shoulder, and leaves to go to bed. 

“I admire her optimism,” Joe says, shushing Nicky lightly when he begins to stir. 

Andy hums in thought. It might only be youthful optimism, but something in Nile’s words stops her from disregarding them. “Maybe the problem before was that we didn’t have her.” 

They don’t say any more that night. They don’t discuss Quynh, or how if they do ever find it, it could be long after Andy has died, but they don’t forget. 

In fact, they even begin to rekindle hope. 

**Author's Note:**

> Consider leaving a kudos or comment if you liked this :)


End file.
